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Tengrism (also Tengriism, Tengrianism; Russian: Тенгрианство, Turkish: Tengricilik, Mongolian: Тэнгэр шүтлэг) is a modern term^[1] for a Central Asian religion characterised by features of shamanism, animism, totemism, polytheism and ancestor worship. It was the mainstream religion amongst Turks, Mongols and Hungarians^[2]

As a modern revival, Tengrism has been advocated among intellectual circles of the Turkic nations of Central Asia, including Tatarstan, Buryatia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, in the years following the dissolution of the Soviet Union (1990s to present). It is still actively practiced and undergoing an organised revival in Yakutia, Khakassia, Tuva, and other Turkic nations within Russia. Burkhanism is a movement kindred to Tengrism concentrated in Altay.

Khukh and Tengri literally mean "blue" and "sky" in Mongolian and modern Mongolians still pray to "Munkh Khukh Tengri" ("Eternal Blue Sky"). Therefore Mongolia is sometimes poetically referred to by Mongolians as the "Land of Eternal Blue Sky" ("Munkh Khukh Tengriin Oron" in Mongolian). In modern Turkey Tengriism is also known as the Göktanrı dini, "Sky God religion",^[3] Turkish "Gök" (sky) and "Tanrı" (God) corresponding to the Mongolian khukh (blue) and Tengri (sky), respectively.

Background [link]

A cosmological diagram from an early 20th century shaman's drum.^[4]

In Tengriism, the meaning of life is seen as living in harmony with the surrounding world. Tengriist believers view their existence as sustained by the eternal blue Sky, Tengri, the fertile Mother-Earth, spirit Eje, and a ruler who is regarded as the holy spirit of the Sky. Heaven, Earth, the spirits of nature and the ancestors provide every need and protect all humans. By living an upright and respectful life, a human being will keep his world in balance and maximize his personal power Wind Horse.

In Europe, Tengrism was the religion of the Huns and of the early Bulgars who brought it to the region. It is said that the Huns of the Northern Caucasus believed in two gods. One is called Tangri han, that is Tengri Khan, who is thought to be identical to the Persian Aspandiat, and for whom horses were sacrificed, and the other is called Kuar, whose victims are struck down by lightning.^[5]

It is still actively practised in Sakha, Buryatia, Tuva and Mongolia in parallel with Tibetan Buddhism and Burkhanism.^[6]

In Turkey, some remnants of Tengrism are still present in the traditional culture of the country. Nazar is extensively being used by almost everyone in their houses, in/on vehicles, baby-clothes and even on buildings. Hanging rags on the trees; dropping water on someone's car as the car moves for wishing them to return very soon (like saying, go like water come like water); knocking on a wood three times with your right hand when an unwanted situation occurs, to prevent bad-spirits from hearing the situation; the importance of the number forty (40), wearing a ribbon-headwrap (lohusa tacı) right after a woman gives birth, doing ceremonies for beloved-persons on seventh, fourtieth and fifty-second days after their death are some examples of traditions linked to Tengrism. There is an expression (idiom) in Turkish which is used when you feel too ashamed of something: Yerin yedi kat altına girdim which literally means I have gone into the seventh floor of the ground is also linked to Tengrism. Barış Manço made a song called Lady of the seventh sky in 1975. (In Tengrism, it is believed that the ground -earth- and the sky both have seven floors/sections). Kırklama is the name of the special ceremony done for a new-born baby on the fortieth day after the baby is born. Drinking Turkish coffee with your friend is believed to worth forty years of friendship. (The expression Bir fincan kahvenin kırk yıl hatırı vardır literally means One cup of coffee will not be forgotten for forty years).^[7]

A number of Kyrgyz politicians are actively pushing Tengrism, to fill the ideological void. Dastan Sarygulov, currently secretary of state and formerly chair of the Kyrgyz state gold mining company, has established Tengir Ordo (Army of Tengri) which is a civic group that seeks to promote the values and traditions of the Tengrism.^[8]

There is a Tengrist society in Bishkek, which officially claims almost 500,000 followers and an international scientific center of Tengrist studies. Both institutions are run by Dastan Sarygulov, the main theorist of Tengrism in Kyrgyzstan and a member of the Parliament.

Publications committed to the subject of Tengrism are more and more frequently published in scientific journals of human sciences in Kyrgyzstan as well as in Kazakhstan. The partisans of this movement endeavor to influence the political circles, and have in fact succeeded in spreading their concepts into the governing bodies. Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev and even more frequently former Kyrgyz president Askar Akayev have several times mentioned that Tengrism as the national and “natural” religion of the Turkic peoples.

Historical Tengri [link]

Spelling of Tengri in the Orkhon script (written from right to left).^[9]

Historical Tengrism surrounded the cult of the sky god and chief deity Tengri and incorporated elements of shamanism, animism, totemism and ancestor worship. It was brought into Eastern Europe by the Huns and early Bulgars. It lost its importance when the Uighuric kagans proclaimed Manichaeism the state religion in the 8th century.^[10]

Tengriism also played a large part in the religious denomination of the Gok-Turk Empire and the Great Mongol Empire. The name “Gok-Turk” translates as “Celestial Turk” which directly points out to the devotion to Tengriism. In the XIII century, Genghis Khan and several generations of his followers were also Tengrian believers until his fifth generation descendent Uzbeg Khan turned to Islam in the XIVth century.

The original Great Mongol Khans, although they were followers of Tengri and believed to have received a heavenly mandate to rule the world from him, were nonetheless known for their tolerance towards other confessions^[11]. This fact is well described a statement made by Möngke Khan, the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol empire: “We believe that there is only one God, by whom we live and by whom we die, and for whom we have an upright heart. But as God gives us the different fingers of the hand, so he gives to men diverse ways to approach Him.” (“Account of the Mongols. Diary of William Rubruck”, Religious debate in court. Documented by W. Rubruck in May 31, 1254.). In the context of the modern revival, the term is sometimes used in a much wider sense of the mythology of the Turkic and Mongolian peoples and Central Asian shamanism in general.

Turkic history [link]

According to other records, Togarmah is regarded as the ancestor of the Turkic peoples. For example, The French Benedictine monk and scholar Calmet (1672–1757) places Togarmah in Scythia and Turcomania (in the Eurasian Steppes and Central Asia).^[12] Also in his letters, King Joseph ben Aaron, the ruler of the Khazars, writes:

"You ask us also in your epistle: "Of what people, of what family, and of what tribe are you?" Know that we are descended from Japhet, through his son Gomer trough his son Togarmah. I have found in the genealogical books of my ancestors that Togarmah had ten sons. These are their names:

the eldest was Ujur (Agiôr - Uyghur),

the second Tauris (Tirôsz - Tauri),

the third Avar (Avôr - Avar),

the fourth Uauz (Ugin - Oghuz),

the fifth Bizal (Bizel - Pecheneg),

the sixth Tarna,

the seventh Khazar (Khazar),

the eighth Janur (Zagur),

the ninth Bulgar (Balgôr - Bulgar),

the tenth Sawir (Szavvir/Szabir - Sabir)."^[13]

In Jewish sources too Togarmah is listed as the father of the Turkic peoples: The medieval Jewish scholar: Joseph ben Gorion lists in his Josippon the ten sons of Togarma as follows:

1. Kozar (the Khazars)
2. Pacinak (the Pechenegs)
3. Aliqanosz (the Alans)
4. Bulgar (the Bulgars)
5. Ragbiga (Ragbina, Ranbona)
6. Turqi (possibly the Kökturks)
7. Buz (the Oghuz)
8. Zabuk
9. Ungari (either the Hungarians or the Oghurs/Onogurs)
10. Tilmac (Tilmic/Tirôsz - Tauri)."

In the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, they are listed as:

1. Cuzar (the Khazars)
2. Pasinaq (the Pechenegs)
3. Alan (the Alans)
4. Bulgar (the Bulgars)
5. Kanbinah
6. Turq (possibly the Kökturks)
7. Buz (the Oghuz)
8. Zakhukh
9. Ugar (either the Hungarians or the Oghurs/Onogurs)
10. Tulmes (Tirôsz - Tauri)

Another medieval rabbinic work, the Book of Jasher, further corrupts these same names into:

1. Buzar (the Khazars)
2. Parzunac (the Pechenegs)
3. Balgar (the Bulgars)
4. Elicanum (the Alans)
5. Ragbib
6. Tarki (the Kökturks)
7. Bid (the Oghuz)
8. Zebuc
9. Ongal (Hungarians or Oghurs/Onogurs)
10. Tilmaz (Tirôsz - Tauri).

In Arabic records, Togorma's tribes are these:

1. Khazar (the Khazars)
2. Badsanag (the Pechenegs)
3. Asz-alân (the Alans)
4. Bulghar (the Bulgars)
5. Zabub
6. Fitrakh (Kotrakh?) (Ko-etrakh. Etrakh means turks [possibly Gokturks])
7. Nabir
8. Andsar (Ajhar)
9. Talmisz (Tirôsz - Tauri)
10. Adzîgher (Adzhigardak?).

The Arabic account however, also adds an 11th clan: Anszuh.

Yet another tradition of the sons of Togarmah appears in Pseudo-Philo, where their names are said to be "Abiud, Saphath, Asapli, and Zepthir". The Chronicles of Jerahmeel, in addition to giving the above names from Yosippon, elsewhere lists Togarmah's sons similarly as "Abihud, Shafat, and Yaftir".

Tengrist movement in Central Asia [link]

A revival of Tengrism has played a certain role in modern-day Turkic nationalism in Central Asia since the 1990s. In its early phase, it developed in Tatarstan, where a Tengrist periodical, Bizneng-Yul, appeared from 1997. The movement spread through other parts of Central Asia in the 2000s, to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in particular, and to a lesser extent also to Buriatia and Mongolia (Laruelle 2006).

Since the 1990s, it has also become usual in Russian language literature to use the term Тенгрианство (variously rendered tengrianism or tengrianity) in a much more general sense of "Mongolian shamanism, to the inclusion of all "esoteric traditions" native to Central Asia. Buryat scholar Irina S. Urbanaeva developed a theory of such "Tengrianist Esoteric Traditions of Central Asia" during the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the resulting revival of national sentiment in the former Soviet Republics of Central Asia.^[14]

While the Tengrist movement has very few active adherents, its discourse of the rehabilitation of a "national religion" reaches a much larger audience, especially in intellectual circles. Presenting, as it does, Islam as being foreign to the Turkic peoples, adherents are mostly found among the nationalistic parties of Central Asia. Tengrism can thus be interpreted as the Turkic version of Russian neopaganism. Another related phenomenon is that of the revival of Zoroastrianism in Tajikistan (Laruelle 2006).

By 2006, there was a Tengrist society in Bishkek, and an "international scientific centre of Tengrist studies", run by Kyrgyz businessman and politician Dastan Sarygulov. Sarygulov has also established the civic group "Tengir Ordo" ("army of Tengri"), his ideology incorporating strong features of ethnocentrism and Pan-Turkism, but his ideas did not find large support. After the Kyrgyzstani presidential elections of 2005, Sarygulov received the position of state secretary, and he also set up a special working group dealing with ideological issues. ^[15] Another Kyrgyz proponent of Tengrism, Kubanychbek Tezekbaev, was put on trial for inciting religious and ethnic hatred in 2011 because of statements he made in an interview, where he described Kyrgyz mullahs as "former alcoholics and murderers".^[16]

In the judgement of Laruelle (2006), Tengrism

" allows, in urbanized and deeply Russified circles, a hope for reconnecting with the past: nomadism, yurts, cattle breeding, the contact with nature, all those elements that form part of the Kyrgyz and Kazakh national imaginative world which people have tried to rehabilitate since the disappearance of the Soviet Union and its ideology. [...] One can, however, notice the risks of a radicalization of the Tengrist discourse into words tinged with anti-Semitism, anti-western views and xenophobia"

Tengriism in Arghun Khan's letter to the King of France (1289 AD) [link]

1289 letter of Arghun to Philip the Fair, in Mongolian language and classical Mongolian script, with detail of the introduction. The letter was remitted to the French king by Buscarel of Gisolfe.

Arghun Khan expressed the association of Tengri with imperial legitimacy and military success. The Majesty (Suu) of the Khan is a divine grace or stamp granted by Tengri to a chosen individual and through which Tengri controls the world order, in other words it is the special presence of Tengri in the person of the Great Khan. Note in this letter that the divine name 'Tengri' or 'Mongke Tengri' (Eternal Heaven) is always placed at the top of the sentence, even if the former sentence has to look like it is incomplete when the divine name is moved to top of the next sentence. In the middle of the magnified section, the sacred phrase 'Tengri-yin Kuchin' (Power of Tengri) stands completely separate from the other sentences, forming a sacred pause before being followed by the phrase 'Khagan-u Suu' (Majesty of the Khan):

“Under the Power of the Eternal Tengri. Under the Majesty of the Khan (Kublai Khan). Arghun Our word. To the Ired Farans (King of France). Last year you sent your ambassadors led by Mar Bar Sawma telling Us: "if the soldiers of the Il-Khan ride in the direction of Misir (Egypt) we ourselves will ride from here and join you", which words We have approved and said (in reply) "praying to Tengri (Heaven) We will ride on the last month of winter on the year of the tiger and descend on Dimisq (Damascus) on the 15th of the first month of spring." Now, if, being true to your words, you send your soldiers at the appointed time and, worshipping Tengri, we conquer those citizens (of Damascus together), We will give you Orislim (Jerusalem). How can it be appropriate if you were to start amassing your soldiers later than the appointed time and appointment? What would be the use of regretting afterwards? Also, if, adding any additional messages, you let your ambassadors fly (to Us) on wings, sending Us luxuries, falcons, whatever precious articles and beasts there are from the land of the Franks, the Power of Tengri (Tengri-yin Kuchin) and the Majesty of the Khan (Khagan-u Suu) only knows how We will treat you favorably. With these words We have sent Muskeril (Buscarello) the Khorchi. Our writing was written while We were at Khondlon on the sixth khuuchid (6th day of the old moon) of the first month of summer on the year of the cow.”

Tengriism in Arghun Khan's letter to Pope Nicholas IV (1290 AD) [link]

Letter from Arghun, Khan of the Mongol Ilkhanate, to Pope Nicholas IV, 1290

Arghun Khan expressed the non-dogmatic side of Tengriism. (Note the divine name 'Mongke Tengri' (Eternal Tengri) is always at the top of the sentence in this letter, in accordance with Mongolian Tengriist writing rules):

“...Your saying 'May [the Ilkhan] receive silam (baptism)' is legitimate. We say: 'We the descendants of Genghis Khan, keeping our own proper Mongol identity, whether some receive silam or some don't, that is only for Eternal Tengri (Heaven) to know (decide).' People who have received silam and who, like you, have a truly honest heart and are pure, do not act against the religion and orders of the Eternal Tengri and of Misiqa (Messiah or Christ). Regarding the other peoples, those who, forgetting the Eternal Tengri and disobeying it, are lying and stealing, are there not many of them? Now, you say that we have not received silam, you are offended and harbor thoughts of discontent. [But] if one prays to Eternal Tengri and carries righteous thoughts, it is as much as if he had received silam. We have written our letter in the year of the tiger, the fifth of the new moon of the first summer month (May 14th, 1290), when we were in Urumi.”

Nestorianism and Tengriism [link]

Tengrism is often called as Nestorianism by Christian devices.^[17] Turkish Nestorian manuscripts, that have the same rune-like duct as the Old Turkic script, have been found especially in the oasis of Turfan and in the fortress of Miran.^{[18][19][20][21][22][23]} When and by whom the Bible or any part thereof have been translated into Turkish for the first time, is completely in the dark.^[24] Most of these written records in the pre-Islamic era of Central Asia are written in the Old Turkic language.^[25] Nestorian Christianity also had followers among the Uighurs. In the Nestorian sites of Turfan, a fresco depicting the rites of Palm Sunday has been discovered.^[26]

Principles of Tengrism [link]

• There exists one supreme God, Tengri. He is the unknowable One who knows everything, which is why Turks and Mongols say 'Only Tengri knows' /gagtskhuu Tenger medne/. He is the Judge of people's good and bad actions, which is why it is said 'Tengri will be angry if you sin' /Tenger khilegnene/. Tengri can bless a person richly but can also utterly destroy those whom he dislikes. His actions cannot be predicted. His ways are difficult to know.
• Tengri is the intelligence and power behind all of nature. Everything is ultimately controlled by him, from the weather to the fate of individuals and nations, which is why Genghis Khan says in the Altan Tobchi: 'I have not become Lord thanks to my own bravery and strength, I have become Lord thanks to the love of our mighty father Tengri. I have defeated my enemies thanks to the assistance of our father Tengri. I have not become Khan thanks to my own all-embracing prowess. I have become Lord thanks to the love of our father Khan Tengri. I have defeated alien enemies thanks to the mercy of our father Khan Tengri.'
• There exists many other spirits or 'angels' besides Tengri. These spirits are diverse. They can be good or bad or of mixed temperament. They can be gods residing in the upper heavenly world, wandering evil spirits from the underworld, spirits of the land, water, stars and planets or spirits of the ancestors. They can be in charge of certain tribes or of certain nations. Under Tengri these spirits all have some limited influence, but it is near impossible for normal people to contact them. Only chosen people can contact them. Chosen people can also do the same thing these spirits do, like send destructive thunderstorms on enemy soldiers (as occurs in the Secret History of the Mongols).
• The spirits can harm people or act as agents in transmitting a message or prophecy about the future. In the Secret History of the Mongols it is said the spirits of the land and water of Northern China were angry about the slaughter of the local population and harmed the Mongol Ogedei Khan with an illness that left him in bed unable to speak. In the Secret History, a spirit called Zaarin transmits a prophecy about the future rise of Genghis Khan.
• There is no 'one true religion'. Humanity has not reached full enlightenment. Nonetheless Tengri will not leave the guilty unpunished and the virtuous unrewarded. Those upright in spirit and righteous in thought are acceptable to Tengri, even if they followed different religions. Tengri has given different paths for man. A man may be Buddhist, Christian or Muslim, but only Tengri knows the righteous. A man may change his tribal allegiance but still be upright. Tribal customs can be changed if they are harmful to people, which is why Genghis Khan did away with many previous customs in order to ensure orderly government.
• All people are weak and therefore shortcomings should be tolerated. Different religions and customs should be tolerated. Like the life of the nomads, peoples' lives are difficult enough and subject to the pressures of nature. No one is perfect before Tengri, which is why Genghis Khan said: 'If there is no means to prevent drunkenness, a man may become drunk thrice a month; if he oversteps this limit he makes himself guilty of a punishable offence. If he is drunk only twice a month, that is better — if only once, that is more praiseworthy. What could be better than that he should not drink at all? But where shall we find a man who never drinks? If, however, such a man is found, he deserves every respect.'

Some symbols related to Tengriism [link]

Kazakh Flag

• Umay - Goddess of fertility and virginity
• Bai-Ulgan - Highest deity after Tengri
• Erlik - God of death
• Flag of Kazakhstan
• Flag of Turkey
• Göktürk coins

Holy mountains and lakes [link]

Khan Tengri (Kazakhstan)

• Beydigin Mountains  Turkey
• Gökırmak (Sky river)  Turkey
• Kızılırmak (Red river)  Turkey
• Tian Shan  China
• Khan Tengri  Kazakhstan
• Kyzyl-bash  Kazakhstan
• Altai Mountains  Mongolia
• Issyk Kul:  Kyrgyzstan
• Musala  Bulgaria
• Perperikon^[27]  Bulgaria

See also [link]

• Mythology of the Turkic and Mongolian peoples
• Heaven worship
• Manzan Gurme Toodei
• Religion in China
• Dingir
• Tengyur

Notes [link]

References [link]

• Brent, Peter. The Mongol Empire: Genghis Khan: His Triumph and his Legacy. Book Club Associates, London. 1976.
• Bruno J. Richtsfeld: Rezente ostmongolische Schöpfungs-, Ursprungs- und Weltkatastrophenerzählungen und ihre innerasiatischen Motiv- und Sujetparallelen; in: Münchner Beiträge zur Völkerkunde. Jahrbuch des Staatlichen Museums für Völkerkunde München 9 (2004), S. 225–274.

External links [link]

• TENGRY.ORG - Tengrism in Russia
• Mongolian film The Sky Son (Tengeriin Khuu)
• Circle of Tengerism: an organization dedicated to the preservation of Siberian and Mongolian shaman traditions
• Excerpt from Tengrianizm: Religion of Turks and Mongols, by Rafael Bezertinov
• Temple of Tengri: online temple of modern Tengriism
• Virtual Temple of Tengri
• Shamanism (Tengerism) in Mongolia
• Julie Stewart's course in Mongolian shamanism--introduction
• Bog je Jedan blog: Avar Tengrism in Croatia
• "Tenri on Mars" by HB Paksoy
• AK JANG IN THE CONTEXT OF ALTAI RELIGIOUS TRADITION